Attachable/detachable supplemental hair accessory

ABSTRACT

A hair accessory includes a first comb, a second comb, at least one connecting member connecting the first comb to the second comb, and a plurality of hair strands extending from the connecting member. A method for fabricating a hair accessory is also described.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to hair accessories and, moreparticularly, to hair accessories that supplement the natural hair of auser in an attachable, and a detachable, manner.

A person may supplement their natural hair with hair pieces to allow awider variety of hair styles to be obtained. Additionally, when theperson has relatively thin hair, the person can supplement their naturalhair to create the impression of a fuller head of hair. At least oneknown form of such a hair piece supplements the natural hair byattaching strands of hair to visible hair attachment devices. The hairattachment device is then used to hold the hair piece to the person'shead. However, at least one known form of such an attachment device hasbeen known to become detached during use, hanging from the person'snatural hair or falling off completely. The person may wish tosupplement their natural hair with a securely attachable, detachable,hair accessory, with the attachment device remaining substantiallyunseen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, a hair accessory is provided that includes a first comb,a second comb, at least one connecting member connecting the first combto the second comb, and a plurality of hair strands extending from theat least one connecting member.

In another aspect, a method for fabricating a hair accessory including aplurality of hair strands is provided. The hair accessory includes atleast one connecting member, a first comb and a second comb. The methodincludes extending the plurality of hair strands from the at least oneconnecting member, and connecting the first comb to the second comb withthe at least one connecting member.

In yet another aspect, a hair accessory is provided that includes afirst comb, a second comb, an elastic unit connecting the first comb tothe second comb, and a plurality of hair strands extending from theelastic unit.

In another aspect, a hair accessory is provided that includes a firstattachment device, a second attachment device, at least one connectingmember connecting the first attachment device to the second attachmentdevice, and a plurality of hair strands extending from the at least oneconnecting member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a hair accessory.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of a support member utilized infabricating the hair accessory shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a view of a portion of an elastic member spirally wrappedby the support member.

FIG. 4 illustrates the elastic members extending between the combs ofthe hair accessory shown in FIG. 1, the hair being removed.

FIG. 5 shows a first side view along a spine of a comb of the hairaccessory shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows a second side view along a plurality of teeth of the combof the hair accessory shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the hair accessory shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a combs open, underside view of the hair accessory shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a combs closed, underside view of the hair accessory shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 10 shows an alternative embodiment of a hair accessory, the hairbeing removed.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the alternative hair accessory shown in FIG.10, illustrating how hair is attached to the accessory.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a hair accessory 10 including attachmentdevices connected together by a plurality of connecting members. Morespecifically, hair accessory 10 includes two combs 12 orientedsubstantially parallel to one another and connected together by aplurality of elastic members (not shown). Bundled strands of hair 14extend from each elastic member. When combs 12 are oriented as shown inFIG. 1, the elastic members of hair accessory 10 are positionedsubstantially parallel to one another. The positioning of the individualelastic members of hair accessory 10 substantially parallel to oneanother creates a layered look for the hair utilized in hair accessory10.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of a support member 20 utilized infabricating hair accessory 10. A plurality of hair strands 30 extendfrom support member 20. Hair strands 30 are, in one embodiment, sewnonto support member 20 and held in place by a plurality of threads 32.In an alternative embodiment, hair strands 30 are attached to supportmember 20 utilizing adhesive, pins, and/or clips. Alternatively, anyother method of attachment of hair strands 30 to support member 20 maybe utilized to attach hair strands 30 to support member 20.

In an exemplary embodiment, hair strands 30 are synthetic hairfabricated from a polymer fiber such as modacrylic. In anotherembodiment, hair strands 30 are synthetic hair fabricated from a polymerfiber other than modacrylic, such as, for example, acrylic. In analternative embodiment, hair strands 30 are natural hair. In a furtheralternative embodiment, hair strands 30 include both synthetic hair andnatural hair. In another embodiment, hair strands 30 are grouped intohair bundles 34.

FIG. 3 is a view of a portion of an elastic member 40 where supportmember 20 is spirally wrapped around elastic member 40. Hair strands 30are attached to elastic member 40 by wrapping support member 20 in aspiral fashion around elastic member 40. Elastic member 40 includes afirst end 42, a second end 44, and a length extending between first end42 and second end 44. The spiral wrapping allows hair strands 30 to layat angles which provide the appearance of natural hair when worn with auser's natural hair. In one embodiment, support member 20 is slidablyattached to elastic member 40. Alternatively, support member 20 isfixedly attached to elastic member 40. In a further embodiment, aportion of support member 20 is fixed to elastic member 40 thus allowingthe slidable portions of support member 20 to move with respect toelastic member 40 while keeping a portion of support member 20 fixedwith respect to elastic member 40.

FIG. 4 illustrates elastic members 40 extending between combs 12 of hairaccessory 10 shown in FIG. 1. In order to better show elastic member 40,hair 14 has been removed. Combs 12 include a first comb 50 and a secondcomb 60, each having a spine 70 extending the length of first comb 50and second comb 60. A plurality of teeth 72 extend from spine 70 and aplurality of openings 80 are linearly spaced along spine 70. As shown inFIG. 4, spine 70 includes five such openings 80. In one embodiment,openings 80 are snap-fit receiving slots 82 that extend along spine 70,and are configured to receive comb inserts 84 in a snap-fit arrangement.Alternatively, any other method of attachment of comb inserts 84 toreceiving slots 82 may be utilized to attach comb inserts 84 toreceiving slots 82.

First comb 50 has a substantially concave-shape along both an axissubstantially parallel to spine 70 and an axis substantially parallel toteeth 72. The dual concave-shape facilitates closely aligning combs 50and 60 of hair accessory 10 to a user's head and hair, therefore,facilitating a more comfortable, more secure attachment to the user.

FIG. 5 illustrates a first side view of first comb 50 along spine 70illustrating the concave-shape along spine 70, and FIG. 6 illustrates asecond side view of first comb 50 along teeth 72 illustrating theconcave-shape along teeth 72. Second comb 60 is substantially identicalto first comb 50.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of hair accessory 10 illustrating the relativepositioning of first comb 50 to second comb 60 and hair 14, and thatopenings 80 are aligned when hair accessory 10 is fabricated. Snap-fitreceiving slots 82 of first comb 50 are aligned with snap-fit receivingslots 82 of second comb 60. As shown in FIG. 7, first comb 50 isattached to second comb 60 by elastic members 40. First end 42 of eachelastic member 40 has a first end loop 100, and second end 44 of elasticmembers 40 has a second end loop 102. First end loop 100 is utilized toattach first end 42 to comb insert 84 which is configured to engagesnap-fit receiving slots 82 of first comb 50. Second end loop 102 isutilized to attach second end 44 to comb insert 84 which is configuredto engage snap-fit receiving slots 82 of second comb 60 aligned withsnap-fit receiving slots 82 of first comb 50. In an alternativeembodiment, first end loop 100 attaches to first comb 50 at openings 80and second end loop 102 attaches to second comb 60 at openings 80.

In one embodiment, five elastic members 40 are attached between firstcomb 50 and second comb 60 substantially parallel to each other andsubstantially perpendicular to first comb 50 and second comb 60. Hairstrands 30 of each elastic member 40 are of substantially equal length,and hair strands 30 of a first elastic member 40 overlay hair strands 30of a second elastic member 40. Also, hair strands 30 substantially coverfirst comb 50 and second comb 60.

The number of elastic members 40 is equal to the number of alignedopenings 80 of first comb 50 and second comb 60. In another embodiment,the user can select the number of elastic members 40 to use, sinceelastic members 40 are removable. For example, a number of elasticmembers 40 less than the number of aligned openings 80 allows thesupplemental hair to appear shorter in length, and allows the fullnessappearance of the supplemental hair to be adjusted according to theuser's preferences.

FIG. 8 illustrates the underside of hair accessory 10 with first comb 50and second comb 60 in an open position. FIG. 9 illustrates the undersideof hair accessory 10 with first comb 50 and second comb 60 in a closedposition. To use hair accessory 10, a user gathers a section of theuser's natural hair, inserts first comb 50 into the user's hair from oneside of the user's natural hair, and inserts second comb 60 into theuser's hair from the opposite side of the user's natural hair underneathfirst comb 50. The teeth 72 of first comb 50 and second comb 60facilitate holding hair accessory 10 to the user's natural hair.

FIG. 10 shows an alternative embodiment of a hair accessory 200, similarto hair accessory 10, having first comb 50 and second comb 60, eachhaving spine 70, plurality of teeth 72, and plurality of openings 80,where openings 80 are snap-fit receiving slots 82 configured to receivecomb inserts 84. Combs 50 and 60 are oriented substantially parallel toone another and are connected together by an elastic unit 202 with hair(not shown, for clarity) extending from elastic unit 202.

Elastic unit 202 includes a plurality of lateral elastic strips 210,each having a first end 212, a second end 214 and a length 216 extendingbetween first end 212 and second end 214. Elastic unit 202 includes afirst base band 220 and a second base band 222, with elastic strips 210extending between first base band 220 and second base band 222, withfirst ends 212 of elastic strips 210 connected to first base band 220,and second ends 214 of elastic strips 210 connected to second base band222.

In attaching base bands 220 and 222 to combs 50 and 60, base bands 220and 222 have loops 230 attached along base bands 220 and 222 connectingbase bands 220 and 222 to comb inserts 84, which connect to snap-fitreceiving slots 82 along spine 70 of combs 50 and 60 as described above.In one embodiment, first base band 220 and second base band 222 havehair bundles (not shown in FIG. 10) attached thereto as furtherdescribed below with respect to FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of hair accessory 200 illustrating the relativepositioning and connection of first comb 50, second comb 60, elasticunit 202 (including elastic strips 210), hair attachment members 250,and hair (not shown in FIG. 11 for clarity). Hair strands 30 (shown inFIGS. 2 and 3) or hair bundles 34 (shown in FIG. 2) are bound to hairattachment members 250 through stitching. In an alternative embodiment,hair attachment members 250 form a weft of hair. In one embodiment, ahair attachment member 250 is attached between each adjacent pair ofelastic strips 210 in a zig-zag formation, alternating connectionbetween each elastic strip 210 substantially from first end 212 tosecond end 214. In addition, a hair attachment member 250 may be formedsuch that it extends from a single elastic strip 210 as illustrated bytop hair attachment members 252 and bottom hair attachment members 254.In one embodiment, first base band 220 and second base band 222 areconfigured as a portion of hair attachment members 250 and have hairstrands 30 and/or hair bundles 34 attached thereto, providing a fullerlook for hair accessory 200 and further hiding first base band 220 andsecond base band 222 from the view of others when worn properly.

The user can utilize hair accessories 10 and 200 to supplement theuser's natural hair to provide various hair styles, some of which maynot be attainable, or desirable in appearance, without hair accessories10 and 200. While hair accessories 10 and 200 are described as beingattachable to the user's natural hair, hair accessories 10 and 200 canalso be attached to a wig or other such supplemental hair worn by theuser.

Also, while hair accessory 10 is illustrated using a single color ofhair for the entire hair accessory, hair accessory 10 can also havediffering colors between elastic members, differing colors betweensupport members wrapped around one elastic member, differing colors ofhair strands between bundles of hair on one support member, or anycombination thereof. Further, while hair accessory 10 is illustratedhaving hair strands of substantially equal length, hair accessory 10 canhave hair strands of differing lengths between elastic members,differing lengths between support members wrapped around one elasticmember, differing lengths of hair strands between bundles of hair on onesupport member, or any combination thereof. Since hair accessory 10 isattachable and detachable, hair accessory 10 may be applied and removedat the leisure of the user.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specificembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theclaims.

1. A hair accessory comprising: a first comb; a second comb; at leastone connecting member connecting said first comb to said second comb;and a plurality of hair strands extending from said at least oneconnecting member.
 2. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 1wherein said at least one connecting member comprises elastic.
 3. A hairaccessory in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a plurality ofsupport members, said hair strands attached to a respective said supportmember, wherein said support member is spirally wrapped around arespective said connecting member.
 4. A hair accessory in accordancewith claim 3 wherein said hair strands attached to said support membersare attached to said support members by at least one of sewing,adhesive, pins, and/or clips.
 5. A hair accessory in accordance withclaim 3 wherein said plurality of support members are at least one ofslidably attached and fixedly attached to said connecting member.
 6. Ahair accessory in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hair strandscomprise at least one of synthetic hair and natural hair, wherein thesynthetic hair fabricated from one or more of a modacrylic polymer fiberand acrylic fiber.
 7. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 1wherein said hair strands are grouped into hair bundles.
 8. A hairaccessory in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first comb and saidsecond comb each comprise: a spine; a plurality of teeth extending fromsaid spine; and a plurality of openings linearly spaced along saidspine.
 9. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 8 wherein said spineis concave-shaped.
 10. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 8wherein said plurality of teeth are concave-shaped.
 11. A hair accessoryin accordance with claim 8 wherein each of said openings comprise asnap-fit receiving slot along said spine.
 12. A hair accessory inaccordance with claim 11 wherein said connecting members connecting saidfirst comb to said second comb comprise: a first end comprising a combinsert configured to engage said snap-fit receiving slot in said spine;a second end comprising a comb insert configured to engage said snap-fitreceiving slot in said spine; and a length extending between said firstend and said second end.
 13. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 8wherein said connecting members each comprise: a first end loop; asecond end loop; a length extending between said first end loop and saidsecond end loop, said first end loop attaching said connecting member tosaid opening of said first comb and said second end loop attaching saidconnecting member to said opening of said second comb.
 14. A hairaccessory in accordance with claim 1 wherein said connecting membercomprises an elastic unit comprising: a first base band; a second baseband; a plurality of elastic strips, wherein said plurality of elasticstrips extend between said first base band and said second base bandconnecting said first base band to said second base band; a plurality ofloops, wherein said plurality of loops are attached along said firstbase band and said second base band for connecting said first base bandand said second base band to said first comb and said second comb; and aplurality of hair attachment members, wherein said plurality of hairattachment members are attached to said elastic strips in a zig-zagformation.
 15. A method for fabricating a hair accessory including aplurality of hair strands, at least one connecting member, a first comband a second comb, said method comprising: extending the plurality ofhair strands from the at least one connecting member; and connecting thefirst comb to the second comb with the at least one connecting member.16. A method in accordance with claim 15 further comprising: spirallywrapping a plurality of support members around the connecting member;and attaching the plurality of hair strands to the support members. 17.A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein said attaching the hairstrands to the support members comprises attaching the hair strands tothe support members by at least one of sewing, adhesive, pins, and/orclips.
 18. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein spirallywrapping the support members around connecting members comprises atleast one of slidably attaching the support members to the connectingmembers and fixedly attaching the support members to the connectingmembers.
 19. A method in accordance with claim 15 further comprisinggrouping portions of the hair strands into bundles.
 20. A method inaccordance with claim 15 wherein connecting the first comb and thesecond comb comprises: forming a plurality of snap-fit receiving slotslinearly spaced along a spine of each comb; attaching comb inserts toends of the connecting members; and inserting the comb inserts into thesnap-fit receiving slots.
 21. A method in accordance with claim 15wherein connecting the first comb and the second comb comprises: forminga plurality of openings linearly spaced along a spine of each comb; andadjoining ends of the connecting members to the openings to connect thefirst comb and the second comb.
 22. A method in accordance with claim 15further comprising: forming the connecting member by attaching aplurality of elastic strips between a first base band and a second baseband, connecting first base band to second base band; attaching aplurality of hair attachment members to the connecting member comprisingat least one of: attaching hair attachment members along the first baseband and along the second base band; attaching hair attachment membersbetween the elastic members in a zig-zag formation; and attaching hairattachment members to individual elastic members.
 23. A hair accessorycomprising: a first comb; a second comb; an elastic unit connecting saidfirst comb to said second comb; and a plurality of hair strandsextending from said elastic unit.
 24. A hair accessory in accordancewith claim 23 wherein said hair strands are grouped into hair bundles.25. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 23 further comprising ahair attachment member wherein said hair strands are stitched to saidhair attachment member and said hair attachment member is attached tosaid elastic unit.
 26. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 23wherein said elastic unit comprises: a first base band; a second baseband; a plurality of elastic strips, wherein said plurality of elasticstrips extend between said first base band and said second base bandconnecting said first base band to said second base band; and aplurality of loops, wherein said plurality of loops are attached alongsaid first base band and said second base band for connecting said firstbase band and said second base band to said first comb and said secondcomb.
 27. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 26 furthercomprising a plurality of hair attachment members, wherein saidplurality of hair attachment members are attached to said elastic stripsin a zig-zag formation.
 28. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 26wherein said hair strands are attached to said first base band and saidsecond base band.
 29. A hair accessory in accordance with claim 26wherein said first comb and said second comb each comprise: a spine; aplurality of teeth extending from said spine; a plurality of openingslinearly spaced along said spine, wherein each of said openings comprisea snap-fit receiving slot along said spine; and a plurality of combinserts, wherein said plurality of comb inserts are connected to saidplurality of loops attached to said first base band and said second baseband of said elastic unit, and wherein said comb inserts are connectedto said plurality of snap-fit receiving slots along each said spine ofsaid first comb and said second comb.
 30. A hair accessory comprising: afirst attachment device; a second attachment device; at least oneconnecting member connecting said first attachment device to said secondattachment device; and a plurality of hair strands extending from saidat least one connecting member.
 31. A hair accessory in accordance withclaim 30 wherein said connecting members comprise elastic.
 32. A hairaccessory in accordance with claim 30 further comprising a plurality ofsupport members, said hair strands attached to a respective said supportmember, wherein said support member is spirally wrapped around arespective said connecting member.
 33. A hair accessory in accordancewith claim 32 wherein said hair strands attached to said support membersare attached to said support members by at least one of sewing,adhesive, pins, and/or clips.
 34. A hair accessory in accordance withclaim 32 wherein said plurality of support members are at least one ofslidably attached and fixedly attached to said connecting member.
 35. Ahair accessory in accordance with claim 30 wherein said connectingmember comprises: a first base band; a second base band; a plurality ofelastic strips, wherein said plurality of elastic strips extend betweensaid first base band and said second base band connecting said firstbase band to said second base band; a plurality of loops, wherein saidplurality of loops are attached along said first base band and saidsecond base band for connecting said first base band and said secondbase band to said first comb and said second comb; and a plurality ofhair attachment members, wherein said plurality of hair attachmentmembers are attached to said elastic strips in a zig-zag formation.